May 20
One of the wonderful things about the internet is that it makes doing research a lot easier for genealogists. That's great if you are looking for vital records, photos of gravestones, or your ancestor's high school yearbook. Just be careful before you merge your family tree or copy another genealogist's research. Never assume someone else's rese...
Feb 15
With the United States and Canada as neighbors as well as many people having moved to one or the other country over the decades, it is important to have family history resources for both countries. You never know when a missing ancestors from Newfoundland was in New York for a few years and then returned to Canada or a native from Michigan travel...
Dec 23
Many people today prefer that the holiday be written out as 'Christmas' but there a long standing tradition of using the 'X'. In 1436 Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press with movable type. In the early days of printing typesetting was done by hand and was very tedious and expensive. As a result, abbreviations were common. It first was u...
Dec 11
Many methods to store one's digital photos and using a couple different ways is the preferred and safest avenue. You have the scanned and digital photos on your computer. Also have them on a disc and / or thumb / flash drive. Use the 'Cloud' method as an alternative method also. One of the recommended 'cloud' storage services is with Amazo...
Nov 29
The online shopping site of Amazon just might have some items to add to your family information and artifacts. If you had a relative who served in a specific US military branch and you know the unit and / or regiment he served in, you might find something related to it. Putting in the Amazon search 'military units' showed over 53,000 items. For exa...
Nov 21
Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK) was a very valuable asset for many family history researchers to have a photograph of an ancestor's headstone, copy of a death certificate, a microfilm copy of an old newspaper clipping, etc. Unfortunately the former RAOGK had to close down awhile back due to the death of its creator. New on the Interne...
Nov 5
When searching for cousins, great aunts, or grandparents, it can be very helpful to find an address of where they did or presently live. The online site titled 'Old Phone Book' can take you back 20 years to 1994 and allows you to search across the United States for individuals who were listed in a phone book. Keep in mind the family or person you ...
Oct 23
Any ancestors who lived or were native to Australia, the newest database, 'Biographical Database of Australia', (BDA) may be just what you need. It has half a million names and it is just starting. Some of the early records used come from convict, muster, census, baptism, marriage and burial manuscript records for most of the New South Wales pop...
Oct 15
Sometimes people are worried they may find a 'black sheep', 'a skeleton in the closet' or some other shocking or upsetting information about an ancestor. This is sometimes referred to as finding the 'dark side' or 'sinister side' of the family tree. A few of such shocking news can be that your ancestors owned slaves, killed a person, was married...
Oct 7
Yes, it happens you have been away from actively doing your family tree and now you want to kick start the research. Or you have been working on the family history and are running into road blocks. Here are a few suggestions to 'get back on track' and have success. If you haven't already, go to the closest Family History Center (Church of the La...